todd, msnbc's political director and host of msnbc's "the daily rundown." let me start with david because you've had a really good look and we have jonathan martin of politico and in washington we're joined right now by alex wagner, host of "now" with alex wagner on msnbc and howard fineman has joined us as well. editorial director of "the huffington post why the "media group and msnbc political analyst. let's go to david right now and get a sense of what the library is all about. >> well, chris, and obvious lly stop me at any time as the ceremony unfolds if you want to go to it live. this library is very much in the image of what president bush wants to be remembered for. his was a tumultuous presidency. there's an aspect of the library, the presidency he imagined and the presidency he ultimately led as a wartime leader, the 9/11 portions are compelling. it is striking that iraq is not separate from the entire section on the war on terror, which was the enduring criticism. >> can we take a break, david. >> yeah, go ahead. >> just have a pause while they introduce the presidents right now, thank you. >> i want the agenda. >> mrs. lucy b. johnson. police linda j. robb. >> mrs. trisha nixon cox. mrs. susan ford bales. mr. michael reagan. >> we're watching, of course, luci baines johnson, trisha nixon, the older daughter of richard nixon, susan ford, the older daughter of susan ford, sort of a reunion of both party and their full families. looks like a lot of appearances today. i'm surprised at how many people have made this big ticket appearance. okay, chuck. never know. all five presidents have been together so i don't want to miss that moment when they come out. chuck, what do you think of all of this? >> look, this is a moment, you know, our presidents get together for elaborate dedications and funerals and this is the upside of when these people get together so it's a moment for people that love american history, love american politics on both sides and sort of one of those moments we all pause. and that's why i enjoy just as a junkie watching all this. look, we're all -- we're going to pore through this legacy whether george w. bush likes it or not, because it has had an incredible impact on our american politics, but this is one of those bigger days. >> here we go. the first ladies, of course, starting with the current one, michelle obama. everybody loves michelle. >> mrs. hillary rodham clinton. >> mrs. barbara bush. >> mrs. roslyn carter. >> these an unusual picture in the papers tomorrow. david, what do you think? you know all these people. >> i think this is such a singular moment in our country, and it's so important in our politics, for those of us who follow politics so closely and understand the deep ideological and philosophical differences. this is a celebration of the presidency, and that doesn't just mean pomp and circumstance. it means an appreciation for what's hard about it, what's unique about it, that you are scrutinized from left and right no party your party, and there is a special bond here. these families understand it and the men we'll see understand it all too well. >> speaking of ruffles and flourishes, there it is, about to meet the presidents, i believe. >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states, barack obama. >> it never gets old for them. >> john kennedy says it has a certain belt to it. >> you see governor bush and hillary clinton walking out side by side. enough dynasties in this country, wasn't just about jeb, about her son. >> here they are. this is a great picture. this will be on the top of the paper tomorrow. >> there he is. the former president bush, the senior. >> he's very healthy. he just has struggling walking though. actually is feeling a lot better. >> has a smile on. >> we've got joining us michael beschloss, the great american historian. i remember the first picture like this is when sam rayburn passed together and they all got together. this one will be in color. >> that's exactly right. places like roosevelt's funeral in 1962, and if you were a martian who knew nothing about america and you saw this scene, you'd realize that this is really the country that the founders wanted, where you had people duke it out all day over policies as many of these people on the stage do and did, but at the end of the day they all come together. >> i think it's also a testament to our healthier life expectancies these days. how often, mikeal, and you probably know this by heart, how often have we had five? is that common or not? >> that is very rare and a creation of recent times. although one of the longest lived presidents oddly enough was john adams. >> here's the dedication. >> let us pray. we have gathered here today, oh, god, to offer thanks to the life and legacy of president and mrs. george w. bush. we thank you for their distinguished leadership to our nation. moreover, we are grateful for their moral courage and commitment to public service. oh, god our lord create ore and sustainer, today we honor a man who genuinely believes in your quest of freedom for all. we ask that president bush and his family continue to feel the prayers and support of people all over the world who recognize his past and continued work for the expansion of freedom. we ask your blessings upon the george w. bush presidential center and all who will walk through these doors. we pray that it will serve as a beacon of hope and freedom throughout the world. we pray that it will remind each and every one of us of our nation's heroic past and generate noble insights for future leaders of our country. grant that each of us today will rededicate our lives to the values of this great institution as we continue to learn the lessons of history. help us to live out the words of the prophet micah, to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly about our god. we pray all these things in thy name, amen. >> thank you, mark. >> thank you. ♪ >> well, we're going to be treated to something special the next several minutes after this music. we're going to -- this march music. we're going to hear a little bit, maybe five minutes each, from each of the presidents standing there, so for the course of roughly half an hour we'll get a testament from all of these presidents to george w. bush. it's going to be quite interesting, chuck. >> it is. i've got a little bit of an understanding of what president obama is going to say. i mean, it really is all you would assume of taking the idea of celebrating the presidency but personalizing it a little bit and while president obama and president bush haven't gotten as close as president clinton has with the entire bush family don't expect awkward politics and any of that stuff. >> yeah. >> it's not the occasion here. this is about celebrating the difficulty of being and sitting behind that resolute desk. >> and you have to think that president obama, too, will salute not just george w. bush but the bush family. >> the bush family. >> and their legacy of public service. that's sort of the safe play. >> it's a safe play and that's what i would expect. >> we have to stop for the pledge. >> i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> please be seated. ladies and gentlemen, the chair of the george w. bush institute advisory board, dr. condoleezza rice. >> good morning. mr. president and mrs. obama, president and mrs. carter, president and mrs. george h.w. bush, president and mrs. clinton and president and mrs. bush, i have the honor of introducing a number of global leaders, national leaders and texas state leaders who have come to join us on this momentous occasion. as your name is called, may i ask you to stand, and may i ask the audience to hold your applause so that we can acknowledge our global leaders together. president of the republic of georgia, mikael saakashvili and former president of spain, president agnar, the former president of ghana, the former president of south korea lee myung bak and mrs. kim, former president and mrs. lourdes rodriguez deflores of el salvador, former prime minister silvio berlusconi of italy, former prime minister tony blair and mrs. sharri blair of the united kingdom, former prime minister and mrs. john howard of australia, former prime minister and mrs. ehud olmert of israel, former -- current secretary-general of nato, mr. mr. mr. rasmussen, his royal heiness bandhar al sultan of saudi arabia, abdul al chalifa of bahrain, former ambassador to the united states and absof india, current ambassadors to the united states, ambassador salim al saba of kuwait, ambassador patilja of indonesia and ambassador hakimi and mrs. hakimi of afghanistan, ambassador of botswana, the german chief of mission, mr. janz hannefeldt. please join mow and acknowledging our global leaders. i would now like to acknowledge the governor of texas, rick perry. the governor of arizona, jan brewer, the governor of new jersey, chris christie and mrs. mary pat christie, the former governor of alabama, bob riley, and the former governor of michigan john engler and his wife michelle. i want to greet the following members of congress, senator ted cruz and his wife heidi of texas, senator john cornyn of texas, senator -- former senator bill frist, former senator kay bailey hutchison, the speaker of the house, congressman john boehner and his wife debby, congressman jeb hensarling, congresswoman kay granger, con man michael burgess, congressman pete sessions, congressman mike conknowway, congressman kenny martin, congressman john micah. and now of the texas elected representatives, lieutenant governor david dewhurst, speaker of the texas house of representatives joe strauss, the mayor of dallas, michael rawlings, the mayor of highland park joel williams, the mayor of university park richard davis and the former mayor of dallas tom leopard. i want to thank you for being here for this wonderful occasion, and i would like those in the audience to once again -- >> alex wagner joining us from new york and also have howard fineman in. let me ask, alex, your thoughts about this. this is a panoply of american political history right in front of us. >> yeah, indeed, and it was interesting, chris, when the clintons were on stage next to the obamas and then the bushes. you're reminded of just how vibrant the clintons are, especially in comparison to bush who has literally been off the radar. bill clinton still remains a huge force in american politics and hillary clinton has been a force as secretary of state, still much discussed as a 2016 presidential contender. it's really interesting just how much more they are in the american popular consciousness as well as a political system compared to bush who has i think perhaps wisely chosen to keep his head down low and maybe to some degree really that's why his approval numbers, as reflected by the nbc news/"wall street journal" poll this week, have shifted a little bit higher. the country has sort of in some ways forgiven him a little bit because he has kept such a low profile. >> i think it's the rising -- it's always true of this. i'm not knocking him. i think people do have a high regard for presidents per se unless they have done something really wrong. howard, your thoughts about this. don't you just love this picture of the president chatting away like he's in college with -- with barbara bush there, just chatting away whenever the camera is not on him, howard? >> my first thought, chris, that i know all these people and have covered all these people. that's a little bit of a shock. the second one is i would say that the -- that the person in charge of that group up on the stage there is barbara bush. she's the queen of the presidency, if you will, and just the thought -- >> the queen mum. >> the green mother of the presidency, and just the thought of her sitting there chatting with president obama i would love to be a good enough lip reader to know what they were saying, but she's the one with the sense of history. she eats one with the command. she's the one who made both her husband and son president, i could argue, and the fact that she is sitting there talking to president obama after she was just on tv this morning saying that the country had had enough bushes, i just think it's remarkable. >> they just showed a video but this threesome would be the best moment in television and it's evident that michelle is trying to get in a conversation with her husband and barbara bush. >> the president is talking with barbara and they are cracking jokes and talking about the scene and the president is obliged to tell michelle what he's been talking about with barbara. i would love to just be in that conversation. you know, i agree with michael beschloss and chuck and everybody and all of you about the great grandeur and all of this. i somewhat disagree that the founders would necessarily love it. it might be a little too triumphal for the founders, a little too institutional for the founders. on the other hand, we have to acknowledge and we should acknowledge that the people on this stage are the people who have made so much history in america. we need to understand them. we need to understand what they are saying to each other. we need to understand their view of history in america. >> okay. here we go. here's t first lady, laura bush that's being introduced. let's watch this occasion. >> welcome, everyone. welcome to all of our friends and family who have joined us today. be seated. welcome to all of our friends and family who have joined us today from around the country and around the world. thank you, all, for coming, and a special welcome to president obama and michelle, to president clinton and secretary clinton, to president carter and roslyn, and finally we're thrilled to have our father and mother, president george h.w. bush and barbara bush. i know for the presidential families that nothing says an exciting get-together more than an invitation to come an see millions of documents from someone else's time in office. so thank you all very much for coming. a warm welcome to the former heads of state who have joined us, the diplomatic cox the members of the united states congress and our armed forces, and we're especially happy to see the familiar faces of so much of the bush/cheney administration. in the united states the presidency is not just about one person. the presidency is about all of the people that join with that president in years of service to our remarkable nation. they are the people who never fly on air force one but who have put in countless late nights and earlier mornings, who spend less time with their family and friends and more time hard at work caring for our country. the presidency is about the men and women of our military who serve every president and who make the ultimate sacrifice to protect us and keep us safe. the stones in the walls behind us represent your years of service. this building is here because of your service, and for that george and i thank you from the bottom of our hearts. a presidential library is not just about one president. each library is about our nation and the world during that time. the george w. bush presidential center reflects george's role as the first president of the 21st century. like our new era, the building and its grounds are designed to be forward looking, and they are green and sustainable. they celebrate the native environment of our home state of texas. the archives housed here are completely digital, and the entire bush center is designed to present the past and engage the future. we welcome scholars and students and the community at large to gather here for generations to come. the center is designed to be human in scale because like the white house presidential libraries belong to all americans. the people across our nation were the ones who inspired us every day. here we remember the heartbreak and the heroism of september 11th and the bravery of those who answered the call to defend our country. we remember the volunteers of all ages and all walks of life who came to the gulf coast following hurricane katrina, and we remember all the people who step forward to help others, whether to teach a child to read or to feed a hungry family, and throughout this center i'm reminded of my husband. i remember the image of george standing amid the rubble of the world trade center, his arm around the shoulders of a retired fire fighter who had grabbed his old gear to go search for the missing. i remember george standing alone on the pitcher's mound at yankee stadium preparing to throw out the first pitch in new york of the 2001 world series during that long season of heartbreak and healing. i remember his quiet visits with the families of the fallen, sharing their stories and their tears, and i remember how steadfast and steady he was for eight years. since we've been home i've added new memories. i see george lifting a brush to paint and refurbish a health clinic in the african nation of zambia. i see george last may on a bike ride with wounded veterans when he hopped off his own bike to help push an army major who was pedaling with one leg up the steep hills. my george is a man who one someone needs a hand offers him their arms. this is the spirit i hope is forever captured in this beautiful building, that this will always be a place that welcomes each visitor with open arms. thank you all, and welcome. >> david gregory, you know, of all the people i knew in journalism, i thought you did a great job covering this. you seem to understand this fellow, maybe not as well as laura bush, but pretty well. >> well, thank you, and as we wait to hear from him, you know, we know the former first lady had such an imprint on this library, and i think that this library is about the president. i think trying to project above all else his own sense of personal integrity, that he faced tough choices, that he had principles, that he stuck to his beliefs and that he's willing to be unpopular over the course of history despite that because his own principles and his own gut about how to lead were the most important. >> chuck, your thoughts about this? who wouldn't want to have a spouse stand up and give a speech about them. >> laura bush, you've got to understand this is the george w. bush and laura bush presidential library. it says george w. bush, but she's very involved in this, and she is maybe more defensive of the bush legacy than george w. bush is and i would expect that. a spouse can be defensive. look at the way barbara bush was. >> but smart in her defense. >> it's very interesting. you can't help but see her influence throughout this museum, downplaying of people like dick cheney and downplaying of people like karl rove and elevating people like condi rice and andy card. >> and also helping aids in africa, cervical cancer within women. that's so powerful for her. >> that's what they wanted the administration to originally be. pre- 9/11 what they ran on, the '99-2,000 version of george bush, the compassionate conservative. a lot of that in there. there's a lot of this by this library and the reagan library. >> what's the difference? >> similarities? >> the similarity is this. the first ladies' fingerprints are all over this. >> as they should. >> nancy reagan has that library out in california in a way that she wants reagan to be recalled. >> and remember bill clinton, just the opposite of the clinton library. that's bill clinton's library. that's not hillary clinton, not to say she didn't have influence but bill clinton's. >> let me say something about the keeper of the flame. no better keeper of the flame than nancy reagan. >> and she's not here today. >> she's watching right now. couldn't get her. hi, nancy. i know she